New Delhi, January 6: Hours after the Election Commission released schedule of Delhi assembly elections 2020, netizens digged a video of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit chief Manoj Tiwari to allege that he was already aware of the polling dates. In the clip, which dates back to a TV interview of December 21, the BJP lawmaker could be heard telling the anchor that the mood of Delhi voters will be known on February 8.

"Whether Kejriwal is a dabang (influential) or not will be known on February 8, but he should be ashamed that despite being in power his party slipped to the third spot in the Lok Sabha elections," he had said while speaking to News 18 anchor Amish Devgan. Delhi Assembly Elections 2020 Dates: EC Releases Schedule, Voting in Single-Phase on February 8, Results on Feb 11.

On being asked by Devgan whether he has revealed the polling dates before the Election Commission, Tiwari retaliated by claiming that he was only predicting. "Last time, the polls were held on February 7. This time, it could be held on February 8 or February 14," he added.

Netizens on Monday - after Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora declared the poll schedule - shared the video of Tiwari while questioning whether the Commission had revealed the polling dates to the BJP.

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This is not the first time when a BJP member is being accused of knowing the polling dates before the release of confidential EC schedule. In March 2018, BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya landed in a row after allegedly announcing the Karnataka assembly election dates in a tweet shortly before the Commission declared the schedule. EC Says BJP's Amit Malviya Under Scanner While Announcing Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 Schedule and Dates.

Tiwari, a two-time sitting lawmaker from North East Delhi, is considered among the probables to replace Kejriwal as the Chief Minister if the BJP unseats the ruling AAP from power. The saffron side has, however, decided not to announce its chief ministerial candidate before moving into the elections.

The 70 assembly segments of Delhi would be contested in a single phase on February 8. The results will be declared by the Election Commission on February 11. In the polls held in 2015, the Kejriwal-led party ended up winning 67 seats, whereas, the BJP was reduced to 3 constituencies. The Congress had ended up drawing a blank.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 06, 2020 10:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).